Hidden Identity
by Kinsler5
Summary: AU. Akane always knew that her father wanted a boy, but she never would have imagined him to send her to an all boys' school. Now, she has to hide the fact that she's a girl, but her room mate isn't making things any easier for her.
1. Enrolled

**Ranma 1/2**

_Hello, everyone! Here is my new story! I wasn't sure about posting it, but I decided to give it a try. I'm sorry if it's pretty short. I'll try to make it longer if you guys want me to. Also, b__efore you continued reading this, I must warn you that this is a complete AU. Other than that, I'll try to keep their personalities the same._

_Anyways, I hope you enjoy. This is my first full Ranma fic, and I'm pretty excited about it. Please read, review, and enjoy!_

* * *

**Hidden Identity**

**Chapter 1 - Enrolled**

Akane gripped tightly on her suitcase as she stood in front of her new school. She couldn't believe how her dad could do this to her. How could he humiliate her just so he can have things his way? Just thinking about it made her blood boil with anger. She gritted her teeth and cursed herself under her breath.

Why did she have to go through this?

She didn't ask for a school transfer. She didn't ask her dad for one at all. She was happy in Furinkan and she had wonderful friends like Sayuri and Yuka. They had been through so many things together and now, they were going to be separated because of her dad's 'brilliant' idea.

Then again, why did it have to be her? She wasn't the only girl in the family and yet, her dad chose her. What about Kasumi and Nabiki? Why couldn't it be one of them? Why did she have to be the chosen one?

It's true that she didn't act like a girl sometimes and she was strong enough to defend herself, but still, that doesn't explain why she was being sent to an all boys school. Akane tried her best to protest against her dad's ridiculous idea, but it was hopeless. He had his mind set on sending her off to an all boys school and there was nothing she could do to change that.

Fuming with rage, Akane asked her father why and she was surprised to hear his reasons. He told her that he had always wanted to have a boy and it was his dream to send him to an all boys school. Akane had to slam her fist on table for that. She angrily told her dad that she wasn't boy and there was no way she was going to turn into one just to satisfy his desire.

Then, he explained to her that going to an all boys school could make her stronger. She could become strong enough to carry on the Tendo Dojo on her own without having to marry someone. Of course, that caught Akane's attention. She thought about for a minute, but still neglected the idea of going to an all boys school. She hated guys! She wasn't about to go to some school that were full of them. There was no way of possibly considering that.

Her dad was struck and a bit disappointed, but Akane didn't care. She couldn't let her dad decide something that important for her. Eventually though, she ended up agreeing to the idea after her father told her that he was going to arrange her marriage. Akane had no choice, but to give in.

Kasumi tried to show her the bright side of the whole situation. She told her that she might be able to find someone to love. Akane stuck out her tongue in disgust. Her fall in love with a guy? Yeah, right. She was going to be dressed as a guy so there was no way a guy would fall in love with her. She couldn't believe that Kasumi was actually going along with her dad's crazy idea. She hated it!

Nabaki then barged in next to her and had grabbed one of her breasts. She told her to be careful to not let one of them show. Akane pulled herself away from her and asked her to exchange places. Of course, Nabiki refused and would only consider taking her place if she had 300,000 yen. Sadly, Akane was broke.

Just when Akane thought she had had enough, Kasumi pulls a pair of scissors from a near by drawer. Akane yelled and ran away from the living room in horror. She didn't want to have her long hair cut. It had took her forever to grow it! She ran all the way upstairs to her room, but her sisters followed her. Kasumi smiled at her and told her in the sweetest voice possible that she had to have her hair cut. She explained to her that she had to have short hair in order to hide the secret that she was a girl.

Akane rolled her eyes, plopped herself in front of her dresser, and she snapped her eyes shut as she heard the scissors snapping away her long hair. When she opened them again, she was surprised to see her hair extremely short. It barely touched her ears. Even though it was cut, Nabiki still wasn't convinced since she still kind of looked like a girl because of her bangs. Akane then quickly placed her hands over her bangs and told her in scowl to not touch them. Nabiki never mentioned it again.

Her sisters then started to help her pack her clothes into a small suitcase. It wasn't much, though. Akane hardly had any pants, just a couple and a few of overalls. She also packed a few shirts that looked kind of boyish. Akane looked at her dresses and hugged them tightly. She hugged them so tightly that she even tore them off the hangers.

Akane turned back to her suitcase and angrily started shoving in her clothes. She didn't want to go to some stupid all boys school. It was the dumbest idea her dad had ever come up with. Kasumi tried to calm her down by telling her that she will finally be able to make her dad's wish come true. Akane didn't care though, the only reason she had accepted was so she wouldn't have to marry some weirdo her dad would pick out for her. That would be hell. Marrying someone she didn't even know.

Akane sighed, snapping herself from her thoughts. There was no point in thinking about the past. She was here now and there was nothing she could do about it. She would have to go to school full of boys, eat with a bunch of boys, and to top things of, she would have to sleep in a dorm with a boy. Akane clenched her teeth tightly. She was gripping on her suitcase handle so tightly that it snapped in half.

What in the world was she doing? She couldn't believe that she was actually here. She growled and stomped her foot angrily.

"I don't care what my dad says! I'M GOING HOME!" Akane yelled to herself. She picked up her suitcase and turned around to leave.

"Ah, Mr. Tendo! Glad to see you here!" Someone told her.

It was too late, though. Akane turned around and gave what looked like the principle a death glare. She sent him the message that she didn't want to be there. She dropped her suitcase on the floor and tried to calm herself down.

"How are you today, Mr. Tendo? I'm glad to see you here. We've been expecting you." The principle said with a smile, but he took a step back when he saw Akane's evil aura raising from her body. He started to get a bit nervous. "P-please, allow m-my assistant to t-take your suitcase t-to your d-dorm."

"No, thanks. I can take it myself." Akane snapped at him.

"P-please, Mr. Tendo. W-we insist." The principle's assistant took a step forward and extended his trembling hand. "It's okay. I'm h-happy to d-do it for you."

"No. I said I can do it myself." Akane told them again, angry as ever. "Can you tell me where it's at? I'll go there right now."

"Oh, but Mr. Tendo? I w-wanted to give you a t-tour of the school b-before class started. We wouldn't want you to get l-lost on your first day." The principle told her with a crooked nervous smile.

"I don't want a tour. Tell me where my dorm is so I can go leave my suitcase. I don't want to carry it around all day!" Akane tried her best to not be rude, but it was close to impossible. She didn't want to be there. She wanted to go home and go back to Furinkan. "Please. Just tell me."

The principle sighed and pulled out a key from his pocket. He gave it to Akane and she gladly took it. "Here it is." Then he pointed to a building that was a bit further from the school. "The dorms are over there."

Then the assistant stepped in. "Your room is number 62 on the 2nd floor. Would you like me to walk you there?"

"No," Akane told him, placing her suitcase over her shoulder. "I'm fine. Thanks for the offer."

She started to walk toward the dorm. Besides all the craziness that was going on in her life, it was a pretty peaceful morning. The sun was warm and it made her feel a bit better. She sighed as she looked down at her new uniform. It was a guys', of course. It kind of looked like the guys' uniform from Furinkan. How she was going to miss her light blue uniform dress.

After a minute or so of walking, Akane finally made it to the dorm building. It was pretty big and it looked to be about five stories high. Akane huffed to herself as she walked inside the building.

She went inside and quickly got on the elevator that was straight ahead. She wasn't in the mood to encounter any annoying boys. When she stepped inside the elevator, she pressed the second floor button and watched as the elevator's doors closed.

When Akane finally stood in front of her door, she took a deep breath and knocked. She didn't want to just step in and find some guy naked. That would be a nightmare! Akane knocked two more times and after receiving no reply, she opened the door with the key the principle gave her.

She slowly opened the door and peeked her head inside. Then, she stepped inside and she was happy to see that no one was there. Well, at least for the moment since it was obvious she was going to have to share it with some boy. She was surprised to see it very messy, though. There were clothes, books, and food wrappers scattered everywhere. She rolled her eyes and looked around. There were two beds, each against a wall. One looked clean and empty while the other looked dirty and sloppy. Without hesitation, she quickly placed her suitcase on top of the clean bed.

"Well, I'm guessing this is my bed." Akane told herself. Then, she continued to look around. There was one big window at the end of the room and at the end of both beds, a small desk was located.

After curiosity hit her, Akane walked over to the other bed and looked at its sloppiness. The bed sheets weren't even properly made. It disgusted her so much that she felt like cleaning it up herself. With the tip of her fingers, she picked up a red shirt that was in floor and tossed it on top of the bed.

She wondered who in the world was her new room mate.

...

_Thank you for reading! I'll try to update soon!_


	2. Friends?

**Ranma ½**

_Hello, everyone! I'm here with chapter 2. I'm actually quite happy that I got to update today. My summer homework has overwhelmed me a bit lately. I'm not making much progress in it, but I'll find a way to pull through:)_

_Ah! I finished watching Soul Eater yesterday! It was awesome! I finished watching Black Butler II three days ago and it was also awesome! Yes, I love anime!What would I be doing now if anime didn't exsist? ;)_

_A quick thanks to all the people that reviewed. It means a lot to me! Anyways, please enjoy! I hope it meets your expectations!_

* * *

**Hidden Identity**

**Chapter 2 – Friends?**

After she went to her dorm, Akane headed toward the school building. She had waited a few minutes in her dorm for her room mate to show up, but he never came much to her dissapointment. She wondered what type of person he would be and if they would be able to get along. If she was going to sleep in the same room with a boy then she might as well try to be friends with him.

Akane clenched her fists angrily while she stomped inside the school. She opened the door and stepped in to see nothing but chaos and a bunch of smelly guys. Taking a deep breath, Akane made her way through the hallway. Unfortunately, there were guys everywhere! Akane couldn't believe where she had just gotten herself into. Placing her hand over her mouth, she tried to walk by them without causing much attention. Luckily, all the guys seemed to be lost in their own little world and didn't seem to notice her.

Some guys were walking down the hallway in a daze while others stood in front of their messy lockers pulling out junk. Other guys leaned against the wall thinking they were cool. Honestly, Akane thought they were all idiots. She had to admit though, some of them were not bad looking, but that still didn't change the fact that they were jerks.

There was a time when Akane didn't have a problem against guys. That was back when she was in Furinkan and before Kuno decided to make a stupid rule. He had made a rule that anyone that wanted to date her would have to beat her in the fight. Ever since then, boys annoyed her to no end. Every morning she would have to fight her way through a bunch of crazy love-struck guys just to get to school. It annoyed Akane so much that she ended up hating guys deeply.

Sighing, Akane looked up and started walking in a bit more calmed pace. One of the good things about this school would be that she wouldn't have to be around Kuno anymore. She was finally relieved from him and she wondered for how long. Once he discovers that she transferred to a new school, he would probably start looking for her.

Suddenly, Akane stopped walking completely. She stood in the middle of the hallway wondering where in the world was her classroom. She never had a chance to ask the principle where her classroom was. "Just great." Akane said to herself. "Now, what am I suppose to do?"

She could try to ask someone. Maybe a teacher or the school counselor would know what class she was suppose to be in. Akane was about to continue walking when she accidentally crashed into someone. It was someone strong for that matter since she fell backwards and landed flat on the floor. Her school bag flying from her hands.

"Hey! You better watch where you're going!" The person said.

Akane looked up after she rubbed one of her elbows. She looked up to see a guy with a yellow shirt and a yellow bandana around his head. He had an angry look on his face while his hands were curled into fists. Akane scowled at him and quickly stood up from the floor. She wasn't about to let some guy push her around like that.

"What! You're the one that crashed into me!" Akane snapped back at him. She gave a glare and got ready to fight. "You're the one that needs to watch where you're going!"

"Oh, yeah!?" The guy took a step back as he got ready to strike a punch. "We'll just see who's the one talking back after I beat the crap out of you!"

Akane stood ready for anything, but before anyone could make a move, someone interrupted them from behind. "Yo, Ryoga. Isn't it a bit early to be picking fights? What's got you into such a bad mood anyways?" Someone said.

Akane suddenly saw a guy standing right next to her. He was a little taller than her and he had his hair tied back in a pigtail. What really caught her attention, though, was the fact that the guy next to her had the same red shirt she had seen back in her dorm. Was he her room mate? Akane shook that thought away. Maybe it was just a coincidence. Coming back to her senses, Akane quickly took a step away from him and gave him a suspicious look.

"You stay out of this, Ranma! It's none of your business! Besides, all of this is your fault!" The guy in yellow that Akane figured was named Ryoga yelled.

"My fault?! What are you saying, you dumb pig?! How is this my fault?" The guy with the pigtail that Akane figured was named Ranma snapped back. "Have you lost your mind?!"

"Shut up, Ranma! You stupid crossdresser! My life is nothing but misery and it's all because of you!" Ryoga yelled as he started to run towards Ranma. For some reason, he was holding out his index finger. Akane couldn't understand why that was. Ryoga suddenly leaped up in the air and was coming straight down toward Ranma. "This is the end for you, Ranma! Bakusai Tenketsu!"

"Hey! Watch out!" Instead of dodging the attack, Ranma grabbed Akane from her stomach and jumped back, making Ryoga fall straight on his face on the floor. Of course, that left a pretty big massive hole on the floor.

Akane's eyebrow twitched as she was carried by Ranma like some sort of dog. He had his right arm wrapped around her stomach while her hands and legs hung down freely. She couldn't help but feel emberrassed. She snapped from her thoughts when she felt Ranma placing her back on the ground.

"Hey. You okay?" Ranma asked her as he tilted his head forward to look at her. Akane bit her lip as her eyebrow continued to twitch. Anger was starting to boil inside her.

"Yeah, I'm fine! I didn't ask for your help!" Akane told him with a scowl on her face. She took a few steps away from him. "I could have handled that guy on my own! Next time, don't get involve in things that aren't your business."

Ranma clenched his fists. "That's the thanks I get for saving your sorry butt? If I hadn't moved you, you'd be half dead! Ryoga might look like an idiot, but he's pretty darn strong! A wimpy kid like you didn't stand a chance!"

"I could've have handled him! I'm not a weakling just so you know! I could take you and that other guy any day! Just you watch!" Akane snapped back at him.

"Yeah. That would be the day." Ranma placed his hands in his pockets while he gave out an annoyed huff. "Fine. Next time, your wimpy butt is in trouble, I won't bother!" And with that, he started walking down the hallway.

Akane stomped her foot on the floor while she crossed her hands. She didn't mean to snap back at the pigtail boy. After all, in a way, he had saved her from Ryoga. The reason she had gotten so mad was because she felt humiliated. She, Akane Tendo, wasn't supposed to be saved by anyone because that would only mean that she's weak. She wasn't suppose to be weak. She's suppose to be strong so she could carry on the Tendo Dojo.

Sighing, Akane slowly looked around. She hadn't even noticed all the people that were looking at her. They had probably witnessed the entire commotion. Feeling a bit guilty, Akane decided to apologize to Ranma if she ever saw him again. After all, he did go out of his way to save her from that other guy. It was her first day in school and she already had problems.

She walked over to Ryoga, who was now up on his feet. "Hey. Would you happen to know where my class might be?"

Ryoga looked at her a bit confused. He scratched the back of his head and started to look around in all directions. "How am I suppose to know? I don't even know where my classroom is."

"Oh, really." Akane placed her finger on her lips while she grabbed her bag from the floor. "Are you a new student here too, then?"

"No! Now leave me alone!" Ryoga told her and he started walking down the hallway.

Akane couldn't believe the weirdos that were in that school. After she had gotten over all that chaos, Akane went into the counselors office to get her classroom number.

Once she finally made it to her class, Akane nervously took a deep breath and walked inside. She was right away greeted by the teacher. He was pretty short and had a tired looking face. Not only that, his glasses made him look old. Akane gave him a small smile and walked toward him.

"Okay, class." The teacher said as Akane stood up straight to face the class. "This is your new class mate Akane Tendo. Please. I want you all to make him feel welcome."

Akane looked at her new class mates and was surprised to see not only Ryoga in her class, but also Ranma. When her eyes accidentally met with his, she choked on her own saliva and quickly turned away. She cleared her throat and tried to calm herself. Out of all the classes in the school, she had to be stuck with those two knuckleheads. Her first day of school was heading toward disaster.

The teacher instructed her to sit in the empty desk that was a few desks behind Ranma. Akane nodded and started walking toward her desk. Along the way, though, she kept hearing whispers in between the students. She could hear them asking themselves why she had a girl name or why had she picked a fight with Ranma and Ryoga. Akane tried to ignore them as she sat herself in her seat. This was definitely going to be a long day.

When it was finally time for lunch, Akane was relieved and quickly closed her journal that was in front of her. During the entire class, she had been so close to falling asleep. The lesson had just been so boring that no one was paying attention nor were they trying. She was the only one that had been taking notes. Then again, she always was a good girl.

Akane looked around the class and saw that guy, Ranma, looking for something inside his school bag. Akane wondered to herself what he was looking for. Biting her lower lip, Akane walked over to him. She wasn't sure what she was going to say, but she had to apologize somehow for her rudeness earlier before.

"Umm, excuse me." Akane told him timidly and blushed a little when she saw him look up at her. "I, umm, wanted to say sorry about what happened earlier today. I didn't mean to yell at you."

"I wasn't asking for your apology." Ranma told her sarcastically. "It's not like I need it."

Akane clenched her fists and gritted her teeth, anger once again forming inside her. She had gathered all her courage and placed aside her pride to come an apologize to this guy! "WHAT! Why not?! I came all this way to apologize, you know! At least try to act like you care!"

"Oh, like you care." Ranma turned away from her, making her even more angry. She had come all this way to apologize and now he was ignoring her?! She didn't know how much she could take all this.

"Fine! This is the last time I try talking to you!" Akane told him. She huffed loudly before turning around. She started walking toward the door when she stopped and turned around to look at Ranma again. "Either way, thanks for saving me. I promise it's the last time that happens."

Ranma scratched the back of his head as he watched that boy walk out. He didn't know what his deal was. First, he yells at him and the next thing he knows, that guy is apologizing. He was such a freak. To make things worse, Akane kind a looked like a girl and that really disturbed him. Akane Tendo had big brown eyes and he was kind of small in figure. To Ranma, that guy looked weak so that's why he thought he couldn't defend himself. How wrong he was.

Still, he was feeling a bit guilty. He should have just accepted that guys' apology and gotten all that over with. Shrugging to himself, Ranma continued to look for some money in his school bag. He wasn't about to let the words of some wimpy guy get to him.

The day was finally over and Akane personally could have felt happier. She couldn't wait to get out of the classroom even though she would stick herself in her dorm. Akane sighed as she walked out of the school building.

During lunch, after she had tried to say sorry to Ranma, she had spent the entire time eating lunch by herself under a tree. From there, she watched some the noisy boys playing basketball and soccer. Some of them ate in the cafeteria while others were just out causing mischief. She didn't know where Ryoga or Ranma was and she didn't care. She didn't plan on talking to them ever again. She still couldn't believe she had the nerve to go up to him and apologize only to receive a cold shoulder.

Akane growled to herself as she started running toward the dorm building. They were jerks! All the guys were nothing but jerks! She hated them! There was no way she would ever have them as her friends.

She ran into the dorm building and quickly pressed the elevator button. She leaned her hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath. After a couple seconds, the elevators' doors opened and she quickly stepped inside.

Once again, she was walking down the hallway of the second floor. She stopped when she stood in front of dorm. Without knocking, Akane opened the door with her key to find Ranma unbuttoning his shirt.

Akane eyes widen as a faint blush appeared on her face. She slowly furrowed her eyebrows and gripped on her school bag tightly. Her blood was slowly starting to boil. Her big brown eyes fixed on the guy that was in front of her. When she finally saw Ranma turning to look at her, Akane snapped and threw her school bag as hard as she could in his face.

"What are you doing in my dorm!?" Akane yelled at him as she stepped inside.

"Your dorm!? This is my room! You shouldn't be here, idiot!" Ranma quickly yelled back at her, but then he looked at the suitcase that was on top of the bed. "Are you my new room mate?"

"Ugh! Are you telling me that your my room mate!? The principle told me that this was my dorm." Akane asked him, but at the same time, she was kind of asking herself. She walked over to her bed and sat down. Then she started whispering to herself. "This can't be. Why do you have to be my room mate? Out of all the people that are here..."

A couple of seconds of silence passed before Ranma let out a long sigh. Then he walked over to her. "I guess, we don't have a choice, but to accept each other. I guess your the new room mate that the principle was talking about. I should have figured."

Akane pouted and sighed as well. "I guess. What choice do we have?"

Her eyes widen a bit when she saw Ranma holding out his hand. She looked up at him a bit emberrassed and bit her lower lip to prevent herself from saying anything stupid. "What are you doing?"

"Let's introduce ourselves. Properly this time. We kind of got off on the wrong foot earlier today." He paused, scratching the back of his head with his other hand. "I'm Ranma Saotome."

Akane stood up from the bed and smiled a little bit. She took his hand and shook it firmly. "I'm Akane Tendo. I hope we can try to get along."

Ranma shrugged, letting go of her hand. "Why do you have such a girly name? It's kind of freaking me out."

Instead of answering that, Akane decided to ignore that statement. He wouldn't be so surprised if he actually knew that he was a girl. Of course, he was never going to figure that out. That was her secret and she planning on keeping it to herself. "Yeah, whatever. I might have a girly name, but at least I'm not the one with the girly haircut."

"Shut up, man. That isn't funny." Ranma told her. Then he continued taking of his shirt.

Akane flushed a deep shade of red as she watched Ranma trying to take off his shirt. She quickly closed her eyes and let her girl instincts take over. She started grabbing everything that was on floor to throw it at him. "What are you doing?! Go change somewhere else?!"

"Hey! Stop it!?" Ranma yelled at her while books and other things started flying towards him. "What the heck do you think your doing?! I'm trying to change, stupid! What are you a girl?!"

"Well, go change some where else! I don't want to see you naked, you pervert!" Akane yelled at him as she stopped throwing things at him. What was she doing? She couldn't be acting this way when she was suppose to be a guy. Oh, she had really blew it.

"Fine! If you wanted me to go change somewhere else!" Ranma exclaimed. "What the heck were you thinking? Throwing all that stuff at me like you're some kind of idiot! If you want me to change somewhere else, then you should have just told me?! Geez, you're such an idiot."

Akane opened her mouth to say something, but decided to keep it shut. If she spoke one more word, her secret could get out.

"Not only do you look like a girl, you have a girly name and now, you're acting like a girl. What the heck is wrong with you!? You're creeping me out." Ranma told as he grabbed some pants from a small dresser that was beside his desk.

"Geez, I'm sorry! I'm just don't used to that sort of thing!" Akane defended herself. "And don't you ever call me girly again!"

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever."Ranma walked over to the window and pulled it open, surprising Akane for a bit.

"What do you think you're doing? Where are you going?" Akane asked him a bit worried. She was afriad that she had made him angry enough for him to leave. What was she suppose to do if he left?

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Ranma answered her question with a question. "I'm going to change out here. If you're going to be that sensitive, then I might as well change some where you can't see me." And with that, he jumped out the window onto the tree and closed the window shortly afterward.

Akane couldn't help, but smile at Ranma's gesture. Even though guys were idiots, Ranma didn't seem so bad.

...


	3. Gotta Go!

**Ranma ½**

_Hey, everyone! Finally wrote chapter 3, took me a bit, but it's finally done! _

_School is just around the corner! Less than two weeks left and I still have ton of homework to do. But as you can see, I'm not very worried. I've learned that I work at my best when I'm under pressure. I'm a slacker, but strong-willed:)_

_Anyways, please enjoy! Thanks for reading and reviewing!_

* * *

**Hidden Identity**

**Chapter 3 - Gotta Go!**

Akane tossed and turned in her new bed. For some reason, she just couldn't get herself to sleep. Akane sighed silently to herself, staring up at the dark ceiling. In fact, he entire room was dark and silent, only thing to be heard was Ranma's loud breathing.

She shifted her head over to him and stared at him. He was all stretched out, his hands and feet hanging from the edge of the bed. His head was laid back, not even on top of the pillow and his blanket was starting to fall onto the floor. Akane sighed and turned her eyes back to the ceiling. There was no doubt; Ranma was one of a kind.

Akane was suddenly snapped from her thoughts when she heard her stomach rumbling. She quickly placed her hand on top of it and silently wished it would be quiet. After Ranma had left from the window, he didn't come back until an hour later with their dinner. Akane was a bit surprised since she hadn't really expected him too. He said that it's better to sneak out of the school to get dinner than eat from the school's cafeteria. He told her that he would always do that. Akane didn't say anything, but didn't object to the _Okonomiyaki _he had brought for her_._ She quietly ate it, but it was not enough to fill her stomach. After they had their dinner, Ranma left again, leaving Akane alone in the dorm for the rest of the evening. He didn't come back until it was time to go to sleep.

After sighing for the third time, Akane's mind started to think about her family. She wondered what they were doing. She wondered if they missed her at all. Akane smiled to herself and covered her face with her blanket. Of course, they had to miss her. Why wouldn't they?

With that thought on her mind, Akane closed her eyes and shifted her head comfortably on her pillow. She yawned as she tried to relax her body. Maybe she couldn't get to sleep because of the big change that had just happened in her life. She changed school, room, friends, and even gender all in one day. To top things off, she had to sleep by herself in a room with a boy she barely knew. Then again, staying with a boy in a dark room was more than enough to keep any girl awake.

Suddenly, Akane got a strange feeling. She bit her lip and closed her eyes with annoyance. There was nothing worse than wanting to use the restroom in the middle of the night. Cursing herself silently, Akane got up from her bed and tiptoed toward the door. She silently opened it and peeked outside into the hallway. She gulped when she saw the long dark creepy hallway.

Akane quickly closed the door and stared inside her room. She wasn't scared. What type of martial artist would she be if she was scared of going out into the dark creepy hallway in the middle of the night? Even if something did pop out at her, she was sure she could handle it, right? After all, she had always been praised about her brute strength.

The problem was that she didn't know where the restrooms were. She had there only once and that had been right before she was going to bed. Ranma and her had walked together to go brush their teeth. Of course, the entire time Akane had to keep her eyes closed because there were boys all over.

Not knowing what to do, Akane started to panic. She really had to go, but she didn't remember where in the world the restrooms were. Biting her lower lip, Akane silently walked over to Ranma's bed. She didn't want to disturb Ranma's sleep, but she had to because if she didn't, he would wake up in the morning to a very foul smell.

"Uhh, Ranma?" Akane whispered silently as she tapped him lightly in the shoulder, but he kept on sleeping. Akane rolled her eyes. She wanted to go so badly that she was even starting to dance a little. In order to wake him up, she would probably have to speak a little louder. "Ranma? Hey, wake up."

Ranma's hands twitched before he turned around away from her. He grumbled under his breath and placed his blanket on top of his head. "Five more minutes..."

Akane shook her head and tapped him a bit harder on the shoulder. "Ranma? I kind need your help." Akane told him, but he didn't even bother moving. "Are you even listening?"

"What do you want?" Ranma mumbled, removing the blanket from his face as he slowly started to sit up. He rubbed his eyes before slowly opening them. Akane looked at him and couldn't help but feeling guilty for waking him up. "Man, why are you bothering me in the middle of the night? This better be important."

Akane nodded, trying to look calm. "I kind of need to go to the restroom."

Ranma lifted his eyebrow while he crossed his hands annoyingly. "Okay, so why are you telling me? It's not like you have to tell me everywhere you go. Do what you want."

"I know that! I would go by myself, but I don't know where they're at." Akane snapped at him. She couldn't believe how rude that guy was.

"What do you mean by that? Didn't I already show you?" Ranma asked her. Akane rubbed the back of her head as she looked up at the ceiling. "Yeah, you kinda did, but I was a bit distracted then and now, well I kind of forgot. Just tell me where they're at and I promise to never bother you again."

"Man, you're such an idiot!" He exclaimed, but he did get up from his bed and started walking toward the door. Akane furrowed her eyebrows, but didn't say anything. She didn't want to get him mad because if he did, he probably would bother to tell her anything.

Ranma opened the door and stepped outside while Akane embarrassingly followed. This was the first time in her entire life that she had ever asked help from a boy. She silently cursed herself for doing so. Once they were out the room, she slowly pushed the door closed.

They walked side by side down the hallway in silent. It was really dark and Akane couldn't help but feeling a bit nervous. What a horrible situation to be in and the silence between her and Ranma was only making it worse.

"Say, Ranma?" Akane suddenly said, breaking the silence between them. She looked at him, but he seemed half asleep to her. "Why are you coming with me?"

"Telling you isn't enough. You'd probably get lost if I'd let you go by yourself. You are an idiot after all." Ranma said plainly. He yawned before placing both his hands behind his back. Akane furrowed her eyebrows at Ranma's statement. His last sentence had totally been unnecessary.

"Whatever! I didn't ask for your help because I wanted to." Akane told him simply. "I had to ask you. Trust me. This will be the last time it ever happens."

"Oh, yeah? Well, it better be. Don't expect me to wake up every night to take you to the potty." Ranma stated sarcastically with a small smirk in his face. "I ain't planning to babysit you all the time. I already saved your wimpy self once."

Akane restrained herself from punching him hard on the face. The only reason she was holding back was because she was more focused about going to the restroom."But I didn't ask you too, so that does really count! Besides, I'm a Martial Artist and I can take you on any day!"

"Shhh!" Ranma shushed her, placing his hands over her mouth. He leaned his face close enough to make Akane blush a little. "Do want everyone to to wake up?"

Akane pushed him away from her and started walking down the hallway in a faster pace. Then she heard, Ranma following right behind her. "I can talk as loud as I want too." Akane told him a lot more quieter than before. "You're no one to tell me what to do."

"Geez. You got some serious anger management problems, you know that?" Ranma told her, placing his hands once again behind his head.

"I do not." Akane gave him an angry glare as she tried to calm herself down. "You're the one that doesn't think before speaking."

Suddenly, Ranma stopped walking and stood in front of a door. He pointed at it before glancing over to Akane. "There you go. The restrooms are right here and the bathing room is right across from it. Remember that."

Akane gulped as she looked at the bathing room. Sooner or later, she would have to take a shower in boys' territory. How would she be able to manage that? She thought about it for a minute. Maybe she could take a shower at a time where no one goes or she could just sneak out the school and go to a public bath house.

She looked back at Ranma to catch him staring at her. She blushed a little, but quickly shook it off. "Thanks. I'm sorry for bothering you." Akane told him in a much nicer voice. Without looking at him, she silently walked inside the boy's restroom, something a girl should never do. Lucky for her, though, they were empty.

After she was finally done with her business, Akane felt so relieved. She washed her hands and stepped outside to find Ranma leaning against the wall coolly. When he caught a glimpse of her, he stood up straight and walked toward her. "You finally done?"

"Yeah." Akane silently said, blushing a bit. Had she really taken that long? How embarrassing. "Thanks again for walking me. You didn't have to."

"Yeah, whatever." Ranma said under his breath. He started walking back in the direction they had come from and Akane silently followed. After taking a few steps, Ranma spoke to her. "Why were you enrolled in this school?"

Surprised by his question, Akane's eyes widen. "My dad was the one that enrolled me here. I didn't want to, but he still made me. I had no choice. He said that a school like this would help me get stronger." Akane stayed quiet for a few seconds. "What about you? Why were you enrolled here?"

"For discipline." Ranma answered. "Pops brought me here so I could learn to behave myself. I never asked to be here. I don't think there's a guy in here that willingly wants to be here. Who would? In a way, it's kind of like a prision."

"Don't you get tired from being here all day?" Akane asked him. All day today she had spent it inside her dorm. If that's the way the rest of her school life was going to be then she'll go crazy. If she was suppose to be stuck in her dorm then she'll surely die from boredom. "Isn't there something to do after classes are over or do they expect us to be inside the dorm?"

"Actually," Ranma began, placing his hand over his chin. "I usually don't hang around here at all. I usually sneak out of here or go to the school's Dojo. Since there's no instructor, it's always empty. Me and few others are the only ones that go there."

"Really? There's a dojo here?" Akane asked him with her eyes glowing with excitement.

Ranma gave her a strange look. "Yeah. There is. It's kinda nice. I could take ya' tomorrow if you want."

Akane nodded. "That would be great. I wouldn't mind having a little sprawl with you. In fact, I kind a been itching too. It's going to fun. Can't wait! I guess this school isn't that bad after all."

He shook his head and let out a sigh. When they finally made it to their dorm, Akane and Ranma stopped walking. Then he looked at her. "This school isn't for you."

Akane looked up at him a bit surprised. "What? Why do you say that?"

"People are pretty crazy here. Since you kind a look like a girl they'll probably try doing some crazy things to you." Ranma told her with what sounded like concern. "You better not keep your guard down."

Akane smirked and lifted her fist in the air. "Don't worry about that! It might not look like it, but I have a few skills of my own. Not to mention my strength! I could take those crazy guys on! Just you watch!"

"Yeah, sure." Ranma turned to open the door only to find it locked. "What the-"

"Hey, what's wrong?" Akane took a step towards him, but stopped when Ranma angrily turned to look at her.

"Don't tell me you closed the door?!" Ranma exclaimed at her.

Akane took a step back, but then stood up for herself. She was not about to be yelled at by a boy! "Yeah, so what if I did!? I wasn't about to leave it open! Someone could come and steal our things!"

"Stupid! If you wanted to close the door then you should have brought the key with you! The door automatically locks itself when it's closed! You're such an idiot!" Ranma tried to open the door but it was just useless.

"Well, sorry! How in world was I suppose to know?! No one told me! If you would have told me to not close the door, then I wouldn't have closed it! You're the one that's an idiot, not me!" Akane snapped at him angrily. Her blood boiling for the billionth time.

"This is all your fault. If you didn't make go walk ya', I would still be asleep in my bed." Ranma sat down against the wall. He lazily leaned his head against the wall. "Now, we're stuck out here till morning."

"Well, I'm sorry! I had to go and I couldn't just ignore that! Besides, I never asked you to walk me. You could have just told me where the restrooms where at, you dolt." Akane sat next to him against the wall. She hugged her legs and placed her head on top of her knees. "Are we really going have to stay here until morning."

"I could easily knock down the door, but then I'm gonna have to pay to fix it back up." Ranma said, but it seemed to Akane that he was talking more to himself. "I'm not about to go wasting my money on stupid door. We'll just have to ask the principle for a spare key or something."

Akane shrugged and looked at him. "I guess you're right. I'm sorry about all this."

...

They stayed quiet for a few minutes and when Ranma finally decided to say sorry for being mean, he was surprised to see Akane fast sleep. Akane had his head on top of his knees while his hands laid loose on the floor. Ranma sat up and looked at Akane. He couldn't believe how much Akane looked like a girl.

Trying to get a better look at him, Ranma crawled closer to Akane. He looked at Akane's sleeping face. Despite him being a guy, Akane had really long eyelashes and his skin looked really soft. Realizing what he was doing, Ranma quickly back away. He could believe that he was just checking out a guy! "Man, what heck am I doing?" He asked himself, placing his hands histraically on top of his forehead.

He tried to get his mind off it, but for some reason, his eyes would always turn to Akane. Then before he knows it, he finds himself staring at him.

Something just didn't seem right. No matter how he looked at it, Akane seemed like a girl. He had small girly figure and his voice was kind of high pitched. The only thing that still convinced him that Akane was boy was his tough attitude. Still, there was something about Akane that Ranma feel uncomfortable. He wondered what it was.

When Akane mumbled something underneath his breath, Ranma froze and expected Akane's eyes to burst open, but they didn't. Taking a deep breath, Ranma once again got closer to Akane. Was he really a guy? Ranma pushed Akane's hair from his forehead to get a closer look at his face.

"Ranma?! What are you doing?"

Ranma moved himself back from Akane as fast as he could, but Akane wasn't the one talking. He looked up to find Ryoga standing right in front of him. "Damn, Ryoga." Ranma exclaimed standing up. "What the heck are you doing here?"

"That's what I was just about to ask you. What were you doing to your little friend here?" Ryoga asked him, lifting an eyebrow.

"Nothin'! I wasn't doing anything!" Ranma said, a faint blush appearing on his face.

"Ha! Yeah, right. Don't tell me your girl side was starting to get the best of you?" Ryoga asked him sarcastically.

Ranma growled and gave Akane a quick glance. He was relieved to see him still asleep despite Ryoga's loud talking. He didn't want Akane to figure out he had a curse. He would probably think he's some sort of freak. "Shut up, Ryoga! What are you doing still awake and what are you doing here?"

"I came settle the score with you and your little friend."

* * *

**A/N: **I'm sorry if it's a bit confusing. -_-


	4. A Note

**Ranma ½**

_Hey! Yes, I'm back after almost two weeks of absence. Please forgive me. I had so much summer homework, but somehow, I ended up finishing it. The first week of school is now almost complete. Tomorrow, I have a field trip so I am free from homework today! Yay! Got to update! _

_I'll try to update as soon as I can. _

_Anyways, please enjoy chapter 4! And, quick thanks to all my reviewers, readers, subscribers, followers, ect! You guys are wondeful!_

* * *

**Hidden Identity**

**Chapter 4 – The Note**

Ranma stared at Ryoga with long sullen eyes. His eyebrows furrowed while he slowly curled his hands into fists. He turned back to look at Akane, who was now leaning his head against the hard wall. Fortunately for him though, Akane was still asleep and he hadn't heard a word that dumb Ryoga had said. Without a second glance, Ranma turned back to look at Ryoga.

"Man, what are you saying? What did he ever do to you?" Ranma said, referring to Akane.

Ryoga looked over at the sleeping Akane and said nothing. Then he shrugged his shoulders. "Him? Nothing, but you...you-" Ryoga took a few steps toward Ranma. "You ruined my life!"

"Gee, Ryoga, how many times do I gotta tell you?" Ranma started taking a few steps away from Akane. He needed to get as far as he could from Akane. He wanted to get him out of Ryoga's mind. "It's not my fault you fell down! I didn't even know you were in Jusenkyo!"

"Shut up, Ranma!" Ryoga started walking toward Ranma angrily. "Everything is your fault! I fell on the spring thanks to you! I'm going to get you back for everything you've done to me!"

Ryoga ran toward him and thrust his fist toward Ranma's face. Of course, Ranma easily avoided the blow by simply jumping back. "Damn, Ryoga. You really are an idiot! Do you really think you can beat me, pig-boy?"

Furrowing his eyebrows, Ryoga threw another punch at Ranma, but instead of hitting him, Ryoga ended up hitting the wall. Leaving a crack on the wall, Ryoga turned to look at Ranma. He had managed to jump over him just in time. "You're right. I might not be able to beat you yet and that's why your little friend is gonna pay! He's gonna help me get my revenge!"

"Hey! What did he ever do to you? Just leave him out of this, Ryoga! He has nothing to do with this." Ranma told him as he walked over to the sleeping Akane and stood in front of him. "Man, what the hell has gotten into you?! You're acting like a total idiot! Just go back to your room and leave us alone!"

Out of nowhere, Ryoga gave Ranma a small mischievous smirk which caused Ranma to flinch. He had seen that smirk before and that could only mean trouble. "I can do whatever I want! So shut up!"

Once again, Ryoga ran towards Ranma, but this time, instead of dodging Ryoga's attack, Ranma fought back. He slammed his fist across Ryoga's face, causing him to stumble back and crash against the wall. Ryoga quickly shook it off and recovered. Ranma was surprised by how determined Ryoga's eyes looked. Ryoga sent his leg forward for a kick, but Ranma easily stopped it his arm and pushed it away from him. Without him noticing, Ranma had finally taken his mind away from Akane.

They kept fighting that way for who knows how long, neither of them daring to use their final attacks. Pretty soon, Ranma was fed up with all the fighting that was getting them no where. He was about to use his special technique he had recently learned to end the entire mess when he heard Akane.

"What in the world are you two doing?!" Akane exclaimed. She stood up from her sleeping position and glared at the two guys, who had managed to wake her up. She was usually a heavy sleeper, but, honestly, who could stay asleep when two guys were fighting like crazy? "You're gonna wake up the whole building if you keep that up!"

Akane was surprised when she saw both Ranma and Ryoga look at her. They stopped their fighting and slowly uncurled their fists and placed them on their sides. Akane sighed and scratched the back of her. She had no idea how long she was asleep or why she had fallen asleep in the first place. She must have been really tired to have fallen asleep against the wall like that.

Looking around, Akane spotted the once perfect walls full of cracks and the once clean floor was full with small holes. Akane wondered how the principle could put up with guys such as them.

"Don't worry. The guys here are used to it already." Ranma said with a shrug. "There isn't a day Ryoga doesn't challenge me to a fight. Each time, I end up as the winner. Isn't that right, pig-boy?"

"That's it, Ranma! I'm tired of you always messing with me! I'm gonna make you regret it!" Ryoga exclaimed from the top of his lungs. He clenched his fists tightly and stared at Ranma. He was waiting for Ranma to say something back.

Akane stayed silent as she watched both guys stare at each. She had no idea why Ryoga hated Ranma so much. A part of her wanted to know, but another part of her kept telling her that it was really none of her business. Still, the curiosity wouldn't go away. Akane kept looking at them, hoping that sooner or later the situation would be explained.

"You wish. There's nothing you can do to me. I can take you on any day, pig-boy." Ranma told him with such a confidence that it kind of scared Akane. He sounded so sure of himself.

"Oh, yeah? Then how come every time I challenge to a duel, you never show up?" Ryoga told him, spatting out his words harshly. "That just shows what big of a coward you really are!"

Ranma grumbled underneath his breath. "Every time _you_ challenge me to a duel, you arrive 3 days late to our meeting spot! Do you expect me to wait that long for ya'!?"

"Shut up, Ranma! You could never understand me! You don't understand all the suffering and the humiliation I have been through. It's been hell! And it's all your fault!" Ryoga paused and looked down at the floor. His black hair covered his eyes which made it impossible for Ranma or Akane to know exactly what he was thinking or what he was planning next. "That's why," Ryoga began again. "I'm gonna make you regret it."

With that, Ryoga gave Ranma one last death glare before he walked down the hallway again. Ranma and Akane just looked at each in utter confusion since they really hadn't expected that from Ryoga at all. In fact, they had expected him to keep on fighting.

"Man." Ranma said to himself, leaning his head against the wall. "What a total waste of energy."

"Honestly." Akane sighed as she looked up at the ceiling. "What were you two thinking?"

…

Akane tapped her pencil on the paper as she looked at the board angrily. She was in class, trying to pay attention to the teacher's lesson, but she couldn't get herself to concentrate. Not only was she angry because of her lack of sleep. She was also angry because of what happened earlier in the day during gym class.

The teacher had taken them out to run on the track field and Akane was really glad about that. Akane used to always brag about herself when it came to running. She used to be the best in Furinkan and would always beat everyone. Of course, in Furinkan, she never ran against the guys. She couldn't believe how weak she really was. Once the teacher told them that they were to run a mile, Ranma and Ryoga were the first to dash, leaving the group behind. Akane never once caught up to them.

Annoyed at herself, Akane glanced at Ranma. He had his head all over his desk, fast asleep and without a single care in the world. Akane rolled her eyes and scanned the classroom to find Ryoga intensely staring at her. Akane swallowed and quickly turned her head forward. She didn't know what his deal was and she didn't want to know. Now that she had seen how strong he and Ranma was, Akane hesitated to pick a fight with them.

Akane sighed and sadly looked down at her paper. If she hadn't come to this school, she would have never realized how weak was she was. All her life she had been training hard with her father so she could carry on the Tendo Dojo and now, she wasn't so sure she could do it.

The class went on for another hour or so until classes were finally over. Akane sighed for the billionth time as she got up from her chair. Another sad and pitiful day was complete. The only thing left for her to do was to stick herself inside her dorm and do nothing. When Akane turned around to head toward the door, she found Ranma standing right in front of her. Scaring her a bit, Akane took a couple of steps back.

"Yo, Akane!" Ranma said with a small smile. He waved at her and Akane couldn't help giving him a small smile back. She had to admit that Ranma actually had a cute side. "Are you ready to go?"

"Go?" Akane repeated, tilting her head a little. "Go where?"

Ranma placed his hands in his pockets. "Don't ya' remember? You said you wanted me to take you to the school dojo." He paused and then looked away from her. "If you don't want to go, you don't have to. It's not like I want you to go."

Akane quickly shook her head and looked at Ranma hopefully. "No! I want to go! Please. I really want to see it."

Nodding his head, Ranma turned around and started walking toward the door. "Alright, then. Let's go." Happily, Akane followed him. "You also said that you were going to have a little battle with me." Ranma reminded her with a smirk.

Caught of guard, Akane furrowed her eyebrows. If she were to fight him, there was no doubt that would lose. Not only was Ranma strong, he was also a guy which gave him the upper hand in everything. Ryoga could hardly set a finger on him. What chances did she even have? "I'm not ready for that yet. But, I promise to train really hard! Once I'm ready, I promise to challenge you to a duel! And I know I'm gonna win!"

Ranma stopped walking and turned around to look at her. Akane tried to hide her flustered face, so she looked away from him. She pouted when she heard him laugh. "Yeah, good luck with that!"

"Just you watch, Ranma Saotome! I'll beat you someday!" Akane pointed her index finger at him. She smirked before giving Ranma one of her famous punches on his face. She laughed and started walking ahead of him.

Ranma growled as he placed his hand over his cheek, feeling the pain run all over him. The hit was hard like a guys' punch and yet, his knuckles felt small and soft. He wondered why that was. Shaking himself out of that thought, Ranma followed Akane. He didn't know what it was, but there was something about Akane that made him feel strange and unease. He hoped that it was nothing serious.

After walking in silent out the school campus for a couple of minutes, they finally made it to the school dojo. Akane was surprised to see the dojo extremely close to the school campus. What fascinated her the most though was the fact that it looked extremely similar to her father's dojo.

"Wow. It's beautiful." Akane stated as they walked toward it. "It looks exactly like my father's"

"What? Your dad has a dojo?" Ranma asked her a bit surprised.

Akane simply nodded and said no more. She really wasn't in the mood to explain to Ranma that her father was owner of the Tendo Dojo. Also, she didn't want to tell him that she was going to be the one to carry it on. He would probably just make fun of her. Akane sighed after she took off her shoes, placing them outside the dojo's entrance. Then she placed her school bag on top of them. She watched Ranma do the same thing as her.

They stepped inside and Akane silently admired the place. Despite it being empty and quite worn down, the dojo was in still in pretty good shape. The floor was the same color the floor was at the Tendo Dojo. "Very nice."

"Yeah, I guess." Ranma said, looking around himself. "Me and Ryoga are the only ones that come here. Oh, and Mousse, too."

Akane looked at him a bit confused. "Who's Mousse?"

Ranma sighed. "Mousse is just another idiot that blames everything on me. It's like they got nothing better to do than go around picking fights. He and Ryoga get on my nerves sometimes."

"Oh. That's too bad." Akane commented. "I thought Ryoga was your friend, but it seems like he really does hate you. I wonder why that is."

"That's none of your business." Ranma quickly said. Akane could tell that Ranma was trying to avoid the topic. "Besides, you're just like them aren't ya'? Trying to always pick a fight. The only difference is you got some serious anger management problems."

"What?!" Akane snapped back at him. "I do not! And how dare you compare me to that idiot! Ryoga is nothing like me!"

"Yeah, you're right." Ranma said, placing his hand on his chin and looking up at the ceiling. "They actually fight pretty good. You're so weak that you punch like girl."

Akane clenched her fists. Of course she punched like a girl because she was a girl! "Just shut up, okay!" Akane walked over to the right side of the dojo and sat down against the wall. "Starting tomorrow, I'm gonna start training hard so I can beat you."

"Fine. Suit yourself. Not like your training is gonna help. You're still gonna be a wimpy looking kid." Ranma looked at Akane and gave her a sarcastic smile which made Akane's eyebrow twitch.

Crossing her hands, Akane looked away from him. She would love nothing more than to have a fight with him and prove him that she's strong. If she did engage herself in a fight, she would only end up losing and humiliating herself even more. She knew she didn't have enough strength to beat someone like Ranma. At least not yet anyways.

When Akane was snapped back from her thoughts, she found Ranma taking off his red shirt and leaving himself in his white muscle shirt. Akane blushed, but managed to control her other girl emotions. "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like, stupid?" Ranma replied, tossing his shirt toward her. "It's called working out. Have you never heard of that before?"

"Yes, I have! And I'm not stupid! You're the stupid one!" Akane told him without looking at him and getting up from her spot. "If you're going to keep on insulting me, then I'm leaving."

"Stop acting like a girl already! You're giving me the creeps." Ranma walked toward her until he stood right in front of her. Then he hit her head on the back, surprising her. "Stupid. You don't gotta leave. I hate training when I'm alone."

Akane widen her eyes as she rubbed the back of her head and gave Ranma a serious glare before she started laughing sarcastically. "Oh! You don't want to be alone! You're the one that sounds like a girl!"

Ranma ignored him and started walking back to the center of the floor. Before he started his warm up, Ranma silently stared down at the hand that had just hit Akane on the head a few seconds ago. Ranma thought about the way Akane's hair had felt in his fingers. It had felt extremely soft and perfect, almost like a girl's. Ranma clenched his teeth and silently cursed himself for having such stupid thoughts about a guy.

…

The next day, Ranma woke up to the sound of his alarm clock that was beeping frantically on top of his desk. He wished it could just shut up and let him sleep. He was so tired. More tired than usual and he knew why. He had worked out to much yesterday, but he couldn't help it. He had felt so angry at himself for everything that he was thinking about Akane.

After sleeping for another 20 minutes, Ranma finally sat up from his bed and rubbed his eyes. He looked around with the little light the sun gave him. He looked over at Akane's bed and was surprised to find it empty. He quickly jumped out from his bed and walked over to Akane's bed. He looked at the messed up bed sheets. He wondered where he could have gone. Ranma shrugged and walked over to his closet instead to find some clean clothes.

Akane had probably gone to take a shower or for all he knew, he probably was already heading for class or the cafeteria. Then again, why the heck did he care? Akane was just some other boy in the school. Without thinking about it again, Ranma grabbed one of his clean red shirts and pants and put them on. He didn't have the time to worry about Akane. He had to get to breakfast before all the good food ran out.

With that on his mind, Ranma grabbed his bag that was thrown on the floor, placed it on his back, and walked out his room, leaving a dirty looking dorm behind.

Ranma went to the cafeteria to get himself some breakfast. He was annoyed to see a whole bunch of boys lined up already. He growled at them and placed himself in the back of the line. Then he slowly started to scan the big and fancy cafeteria. To his discomfort, Akane wasn't there. He hadn't seen Akane in the restroom or the bathing room either back in the dormitory building. Looking forward, Ranma wondered where in the world that freak was. Then, he shrugged his shoulders, maybe Akane was already in the classroom.

Being totally unsatisfied with breakfast, Ranma walked down the hallway trying to see if he could spot Akane somewhere. No matter where he looked though, he couldn't find him. What if he had gotten lost? Ranma shook that though away. Why did he care? It should be none of his concern where that guy sticks himself in.

When Ranma finally made it to the classroom, he was surprised to see almost everyone except Akane. This time, he couldn't ignore his anxiety. He was straight up worried where Akane was. Anything could have happened to him. Ranma was sure that he wasn't the only guy that saw Akane like girl and that's what worried him the most.

Ranma tried to shake those stupid thoughts from his head that had been bothering him as of late. What the heck was wrong with him? Why should he care? Maybe he was worrying over nothing and Akane would pop inside the classroom in any second. Then, he would just make him feel stupid.

The classroom was just as noisy as ever to Ranma's annoyance. He walked toward his desk, trying to ignore the stupid conversations the others were having. When he was about to sit down, Ranma noticed a piece of paper taped to the top of his desk. He quickly tore it off and read the note carefully.

_Ranma_

_If you ever what to see your little friend again, _

_you'll meet me in the basketball court after school. _

_Don't be late or else!_

_-Ryoga_

Ranma growled as he looked around the class and sure enough, Ryoga was missing too. Angrily, Ranma crumbled the paper in his hand. Then without a moment of hesitation, Ranma ran out the classroom and into the hallway. Ryoga was crazy if he thought that he was going to wait until school was over to find him.

Whether he like it or not, Akane was his friend and room mate. It made Ranma kind of obligated to go. Of course, that wasn't the only reason, but it was the only reason Ranma admitted to himself.

"Damn, Ryoga." He said under his breath as he ran down the hallway. "What hell are you thinking?"

There was one thing that Ranma did feel and that was anger. He was angry that Ryoga had challenged him to another duel. He was angry that he was doing it so early in the morning. He was angry that he got Akane involved in all their stupid mess. What fault did the poor guy have? If Ryoga wanted a fight, then he was going to get one. Ranma promised himself that he wasn't going to hold anything back.

This time, Ryoga had gone too far.

...


	5. Disgrace

**Ranma ½**

_Hey, everyone! I'm here after successfully completing my first week of school. Yes. Barely one week. I'm okay with all my classes except for one. It's Government. It gets me really sleepy and I can't pay attention at all. I have to take it, though. If I don't, I can't graduate. My favorite class would be European History. Everything in it is just so interesting; I love it! _

_Also, I'm currently obsessed with Black Butler and Soul Eater. I already finished them, but I tend to rewatch them over and over again._

_Anyways, please enjoy chapter 5! And quick thanks to all my readers, reviewers, subscribers, ect. Ya'll make me very happy! =D_

* * *

**Hidden Identity**

**Chapter 5 – Disgrace**

Akane's eyebrow twitch as she tried to recall how she had gotten into such a situation. It had been early in the morning when Akane, still in bed, had decided to go to the dojo and do some alone training. She got up from her bed and got herself ready without making a single noise to wake up Ranma. Once she was out her room, she didn't get very far because she soon found herself standing right in front of Ryoga.

Without knowing what to do, Akane quickly shook off any remaining sleep she still had inside her and alerted herself for any possible attack that could come from Ryoga. She waited, her body standing in a fighting pose while her eyes stared at Ryoga's dark ones. In her mind, Akane silently told herself that she could do it. She could beat him if she gathered the enough determination.

There was no need for that, though. She waited for a minute or so, but the attack never came. In fact, Ryoga didn't look like he was going to attack at all. He did have a serious face, but his hands were inside his pockets. Akane, relaxing her shoulders a bit, lowered her fists and slowly uncurled them. She looked at him and asked him what he wanted.

He didn't say anything at first, but then he looked up at her. He asked her if she could please come with him because he really needed her help for something. Akane shook her head and refused. She didn't have time to fool around. Turning around, Akane was about to walk away, but her conscious stopped her. What if he really did needed her help for something? Akane turned back around to look at Ryoga, who was standing motionless looking at her. He was acting quite strangely and suspicious. She thought about it for a few seconds and eventually accepted to help him out with what ever it was that he needed as long as it was quick. It must have be important since he had come all the way to her dorm to look for her.

Ryoga's face lit up a bit as he gave a Akane a mischievous smirk. All Akane could do was roll her eyes and walk behind Ryoga down the hallway. When she asked him what he needed help for, Ryoga's answer caught her off guard.

Now, she was here, walking around the entire campus trying to find the stupid basketball court. That's what Ryoga needed help with; finding the basketball court so he could have a duel with Ranma. Ryoga and Akane had been walking nonstop and it was starting to drive Akane insane.

"Damn! Ryoga!" Akane said through her teeth angrily. She grabbed him by his shirt and gave him the meanest scowl she had. "We've been walking around for who knows how long! I'm sick of it! I'm going to class! Find the stupid basketball court on your own! Besides, why should I help you with something that might hurt Ranma?!"

"Hey! You said you would help me! Are you breaking your promise?" Ryoga told her, releasing himself from her grip and crossing his hands. "You shouldn't worry about Ranma so much. He can take care of himself on his own. Besides, I need you here with me."

"And why in world do you need me with you? That's the stupidest excuse I have ever heard!" Akane furrowed her eyebrows and stopped walking to turn around to look at him. There was no doubt that he was babbling nonsense.

Ryoga shrugged his shoulders. "I have challenged Ranma many times before and most of the times he never takes me serious. I know this time, he'll finally give me the fight I've been looking for."

Akane rolled her eyes and looked around. There was no basketball court in sight. In fact they were surrounded by a baseball field and the outdoor swimming pool was right in front of them. Akane had never realized how big the school was until now. She hated to admit it, but it was actually quite nice.

"Before coming to get you, I left a note on Ranma's desk saying that I had you. I told him that if he ever wanted to see you again, he would have to come and fight me!" Ryoga started laughing loudly, creeping out Akane. "It's the perfect plan!"

"Why how dare you use me like that?!" Akane was furious as she walked toward Ryoga. "Are you stupid?! What makes you think that Ranma is going to come get me?! You must be out of you mind!"

Ryoga gritted his teeth, snapping from his burst of laughter. "And why wouldn't he come? You two are friends, right? So why wouldn't he come? Now, shut up and help me find the stupid court! You've been useless! I want to get there before that idiot Ranma does!"

"There's no way I'm gonna help you! I already told you to go find it on your own!" Akane grabbed him tightly from the shirt again, but this time, she lowered his face toward hers. "When you do find the court, I hope Ranma beats you! I don't know what Ranma did to you, but I do wonder why your hatred for him is so deep!"

"That's none of your business so just keep your mouth shut, stupid!" Ryoga told her, pushing her off him. "Even if I did tell you what happened to me, you would never understand! You would never understand what it's like having two bodies!"

Akane's eyes widen a bit as she saw Ryoga's hands curl into fists. He was angry and Akane could tell that right away. He was looking down on the ground, his hair covering his face expression. What did he possibly mean when he said two bodies? Akane sighed and rolled her eyes, her mind thinking about something else instead. She couldn't believe Ryoga told Ranma such a lie. She wondered if Ranma was actually looking for her. If he was, then that meant that he did care about her. When he does find her, Ranma is probably going to start barking at her for letting herself get lured into Ryoga's trap.

"What do you mean you have two bodies? Do you know how creepy that sounds?" Akane meant it more as a statement than a question. She couldn't help to think of her own situation. In a weird way, she also had two bodies; a male and a female body.

Ryoga shook his head furiously. "Shut up! Everything is Ranma's fault. My life is ruined because of Ranma! I can never be a normal man because of him!"

Akane tried to calm Ryoga down, but it was hopeless. Ryoga kept repeating the same thing over and over again and it was getting on Akane's last nerves. "Ryoga, be quiet! Calm down."

Of course, he didn't listen to her. He took a couple of steps back and he never notice the baseball that was laying on the floor right behind him. He stepped on it and accidentally feel back, landing inside the pool. Akane gasped when she saw the splash of water and quickly ran to the side of the pool, kneeling down.

"Ryoga? Ryoga?" Akane called for him as she looked down at the water frantically. She didn't understand why Ryoga would get all fired up when he would talk about Ranma. She knew that she hated him, but not to such an extent. "Ryoga?! Ryoga!"

After a couple of seconds ticked by, Akane started to get a bit worried when Ryoga wouldn't come up. She got up and nervously bit her lip. She couldn't go inside the water to look for him since she didn't know how to swim. Akane was about to leave when she suddenly saw something black popping out from the water. Surprised, Akane kneeled down again and realized that the black thing in the pool was in fact a little black pig. It swam toward her and Akane gently picked it up.

"It's a little black pig." Akane said to herself as she placed it on the ground. The little pig shook itself dry and looked up at her with his big angry eyes. Akane didn't pay much attention to it and instead turned back to the water, trying to look for Ryoga who still wasn't coming out. "Ryoga? Where are you?"

She waited for another minute or so before sighing and picking up the black piglet again. Maybe Ryoga had already left and she just didn't see him. That had to be it. Ryoga looked pretty athletic and strong so there was no way he could not know how to swim. With that thought on her mind, Akane turned away from the pool and started running toward the school building.

What excuse could she possibly come up with for being late? Then there was the possibility that Ranma could be somewhere looking for her. Akane growled. None of this would have been happening if she hadn't been dumb enough to have fallen for Ryoga's bait. It's incredible how naïve she could be at times.

Akane came to halt when she spotted Ranma. He was resting his hands on his knees while he faced the ground. She called out to him and waved her hand so he could see her. When he finally saw her, Ranma quickly jumped in front of her with an angry look on his face. "Ranma?! You're really not in class?!"

"What do you think I've been doing all morning!? Only an idiot like you would let himself get captured by a dumb ass like Ryoga! What the heck were you thinking?!" By this point, Ranma was out of breath. After he had went to the basketball court and found it empty, Ranma started running all over campus trying to find Akane or Ryoga. He was extremely tired from all the running he had been doing. "Where the heck is that dumb Ryoga anyways?"

Unlike her usual self, Akane just quietly shook her head. "I have no idea where he is at. He fell down the pool and he never came out. I'm a bit worried about him."

"Really?" Ranma asked, placing his hand over his chin. He looked around and when he spotted the little black pig in Akane's arms. He angrily snatched the little pig from her hands and held him in the air. The black pig started squirming and squealing uncontrollably as it tried to hit Ranma in the face. "You shouldn't be worried about that idiot. He's right here."

Akane tilted her head to the side. "Ryoga? Where is he? I don't see him anywhere."

Ranma ignored her and turned his attention to the little black pig, who had an angry look on it's face. Then Ranma started slapping the poor pig repeatedly across the face. "Stupid Ryoga! What the heck were you thinking?! If ya' wanted to fight, you should have just come straight to me! You're such a stupid coward! Using that dumb Akane to get me out here! You're such an _idiot_! If you ever do something like that again, I'll kill you!"

"Ranma?" Akane began when she noticed the yellow bandana around the pig's neck. It was exactly like Ryoga's. "Are you saying that the pig is Ryoga?!"

Ranma huffed and smashed the poor pig on the ground. "Believe or not, Akane. This dumb looking pig," Ranma picked up the pig by it's bandana and then threw him as hard as he could in the air. "Is Ryoga. That's why he hates me so much. He blames me for giving him that curse."

Akane's eyes widen and looked at Ranma suspiciously. "Is that really true? It's hard to believe. Ryoga turns into a black little piglet? How did that happen? Was it really your fault?"

"Of course not, stupid!" Ranma snapped at her. "I had nothing to do with it! It was his fault he fell in that cursed spring."

"Cursed spring?" Akane repeated after Ranma. She opened her mouth to say something else when she noticed the black pig carrying a tan kettle with hot water. It was pulling the kettle toward them. She scratched the back of her head and looked at Ranma again. "What cursed spring?"

Ranma was about to answer her question when the black pig poured some of the water over himself. Then he was surrounded by gray mist. When the mist cleared up, Akane saw Ryoga taking the place of the small black pig. He had changed from a pig to a human. What really surprised Akane, though was the fact the Ryoga was nude and unclothed! She screamed, blushed, and immediately turned around. She quickly placed her hands over her face, wishing to erase that image from her mind. "Put some clothes on!"

Ryoga ignored Akane's request and started to talk. "Shut up, Ranma! You're no one to talk about my curse! The curse you inflicted on me!"

"Geez, man. This is getting old." Ranma started. "I had nothing to do with it!"

"If you have the nerve to tell Akane about my curse, why don't you tell him about your own?!" Ryoga spat at him, making Ranma and Akane twitch.

Akane took her hands of her face and slowly turned to look at Ranma without glancing at the naked Ryoga. "Ranma, you have a curse like Ryoga's?"

Ranma stayed quiet and turned away from Akane. She didn't know, but she was almost sure that she had seen a faint blush on Ranma's face. Could it be that he was cursed just like Ryoga? Before Akane could say anything, Ryoga continued. "Go ahead, Ranma. Tell Akane about your disgrace as a man. I might turn into a pig, but I at least don't turn into a-"

"Shut up!" Ranma hit Ryoga hard on the face which sent him flying back. He turned to look at Akane with a bit of embarrassment. He knew that Akane would figure it out sooner or later, but he didn't want him to know just yet. It would be too awkward. "Let's go, Akane. We don't wanna be late for class."

"Ranma! Wait!" Akane called out to him, but it was useless. He had already started running toward the school. Akane sighed and couldn't help but worry about her poor room mate. Was Ranma really cursed? How did all that happen? Akane had too many questions and no answers. She had really wanted to ask Ranma about it when she heard Ryoga mention it, but Ranma never gave her a chance. He left as soon as he could.

What was she suppose to do now? Akane sighed again and started running toward the school behind Ranma. She knew that the curse thing was a really sensitive topic for Ranma, so it would be weird to talk about it with him. Akane continued running, leaving behind an unconscious and naked Ryoga.

The day went by and to Akane's misfortune, Ranma never showed up to class. When class was over, Akane started looking for him. She looked for him in the cafeteria and then in the dojo, but Ranma was no where to found. Was he trying to avoid her or something? Was he really cursed and didn't want her to find out? Not knowing what to do, Akane headed back to her dormitory. Maybe he was in the dorm the entire time. Akane certainly hoped so.

By the time Akane reached the dormitory building, it was already late in the evening. She had spent most of the time looking for Ranma, but her efforts weren't enough. She gritted her teeth and banged her fist on a near by tree. None of this would have been happening if Ryoga had done his stupid little prank.

"Yo, Akane."

Hearing her name, Akane looked around. Then when she looked up at the tree, Akane spotted Ranma sitting lazily on top of a branch. Akane felt relieved, but at the same time she felt angry. "Ranma?! What the heck are you doing up there?! Do you know that I've been looking for you like crazy while you were up there the entire time!? If I would have known than I wouldn't have even bothered worrying about you! You're such a jerk!"

"Well, now you know what I went through this morning!" Ranma snapped at her with a frown. "I was looking for you! I thought Ryoga would do something weird to ya'! He left me this stupid note on my desk and I thought he was serious!"

Akane's anger started to disappear little by little. "You were worried about me?"

"Don't be stupid. I wasn't worried." He stated, obviously lying. "I just hate it when Ryoga does things like that. He's always trying to get me to fight him and it's getting on my nerves."

"You should try to understand him. He is cursed after all." Akane said quietly, getting Ranma to silence. "He also said you were cursed."

Ranma continued to stay quiet. Akane, feeling the awkward silence pressing against her, sighed and took a few steps closer to the tree trunk. Then she leaned her back against the tree's tough trunk and slowly sat down on the ground. She leaned her head against the tree, looking up at Ranma who was looking at the setting sun. "Ranma?"

"What is it?" Ranma asked a bit coldly.

"Is what Ryoga said true? Are you really cursed like him?" Akane asked him a bit sheepishly, hoping to get answer from him. When she received nothing but silence, Akane continued to ask him some more questions. "How does Ryoga change back into a human?"

"He changes into a pig when he touches cold water." Ranma explained to her. Akane was kind of happy when she heard him speak. "He changes into a human when he touches hot water."

"Well, I guess that explains it." Akane murmured quietly. Then she looked down at the ground and started pulling out some grass. "That's why he changed into a pig when he fell into the pool, but changed back when he poured himself with the hot water he had in the kettle."

"That pretty much sums it up." Ranma replied to her little assumption.

Akane looked up at him and couldn't help but feel sorry for him. "Where on earth did he get such a curse? And why does it have to be a pig? I don't really understand that. I had never heard of anything like that before. If I wouldn't have seen it, I don't think I would have believed it."

"He turns into a pig because he fell in the Spring of Drowned Piglet." Akane heard Ranma sigh a little. "It's a spring in Jusenkyo. In China."

"Oh." Akane and Ranma stayed in silent for the next couple of minutes. The only thing that could be heard was the soft wind that rustled the tree's leaves. Other than that, the place was pretty quiet. Akane assumed that all the noisy crazy boys were probably in the cafeteria eating their dinner.

"Is that all you wanted to ask?" Ranma asked her with an annoyed tone in his voice.

"No. It isn't." Akane replied quite bluntly and getting straight to the point. She couldn't hold it in any longer. "Ranma, is it true that you're cursed? Do you really change into something else when cold water touches you?"

Ranma sat up from the branch and jumped down from it so that he was standing right in front of Akane. "Why do you want to know?! It's none of your business!"

Surprised by his rudeness, Akane was beginning to lose the little patience she had left inside her. "I know that it's none of my business, but I still want to know! I want to help you! Besides, I'm sure it can't be that bad!"

"You don't know anything so don't try to act like you understand!" Ranma pushed her to let himself walk by. "I don't want to talk about it! It's humiliating." Akane barely heard his last sentence.

"C'mon, Ranma! Just tell me!" Akane kept insisting. "If you don't tell me, then I'm gonna soak you with some cold water to find out!"

That caught Ranma's attention. He quickly turned around to look at her. In return, Akane gave him a mischievous smirk. "Stupid jerk! Are you threatening me?"

Akane let out a sarcastic laugh. "What do you think?" She reached into her bag and pulled out a water bottle she had gotten from lunch. She showed it to Ranma, slowly turning the lid open. She was really enjoying seeing his scared face. "Are you going to tell me or are you gonna let me find out the hard way?"

"Ha! I'd like to see you try, stupid!" Ranma told her with an evil smirk of his own. He stuck out his tongue and started running away from her.

Taking this as a challenge, Akane growled under her breath. She began to chase after him as soon as she saw him making fun of her, but no matter how much she ran, she couldn't catch up to him.

And so it began for Akane: Operation RRC.

In other words, Operation Reveal Ranma's Curse!

...


	6. Revealed

**Ranma ½**

_Yes, I decided to continue this story. I'm sorry for the delay but, as you can see, I am back in business! _

* * *

**Hidden Identity**

**Chapter 6 - Revealed**

"What the hell did you do to my room, you idiot?!" Ranma asked her in a hysteric voice as soon as he entered. He walked in, looking at his dorm in total horror. Akane didn't say anything and continued to ignore him. "Who the heck gave you permission to do something like this?! What were ya' thinking?!"

Akane didn't even look at him as he stared at her with a deep intense glare. She kept on doing her thing, arranging her bed neatly. "What? Do you have a problem?" Akane suddenly snapped at him. "This is my dorm, too. I can do whatever I want. This place was super messy and gross. It disgusted me. I wasn't planning to sleep in filth for the rest of my high school days, you idiot. You should be thanking me that I actually gave it some hygiene! Something you seem to not have!"

"I liked my room the way it was!" Ranma exclaimed while he walked over to his bed. He looked around his area before letting out a grumble. "What type of guy are you anyways? No guy does chores in their common sense! That's girl stuff!" Ranma crossed his hands and looked up at her to reveal smirk. "Oh, I think I get it. You're just mad because you can't lay one finger on me."

Akane flinched, turning around to pretend she was fixing the other side of her bed. She hated when he acted like that. It annoyed her to no end. Ever since she discovered that Ranma had some sort of secret curse, she had been dying to know what it was. She had tried everything to figure it out. Every time she charged toward him with water, her plan would end up as a complete failure. She had even gone to Ryoga to see if he would tell her. For some reason, he kept his mouth closed and told her that if she wanted to find out Ranma's curse, she would have to ask him himself.

Even so, despite all her failed attempts, Akane hated how Ranma would rub it in her face that she was a weakling. She already knew that. She realized that the minute she had set foot in the school. That's why she became determined to be as strong as him so she could defeat him one day.

"I'll figure it out!" Akane said to him angrily, giving him a death glare. She curled her hands into fists as she took a few steps toward him. "I don't understand why you don't want to tell me! What's so bad about it?! Ryoga turns into a pig! What could possibly be worse than that? It can't be worse than that."

"Like I said before," Ranma told her. He came toward her to placed his finger on top of her forehead. She felt a small blush forming on her face. "You wouldn't understand if I told ya'. You're brain is too small to comprehend that sort of thing."

Akane furrowed her eyebrows at him at his insult and pushed his hand away from her. Sometimes his words were too big for his mouth. "Shut up." Akane told him, turning away and crossing her hands. She really wanted to know what his curse was, but if he didn't tell her and if she didn't find out, she would never know. "Like you're one to talk. I'm not the one that's always sleeping in class. I can bet you anything that I'm ten times smarter than you are."

"Geez, you always have something to say about everything." He walked back toward his closet and opened it. Akane sighed when she saw how ugly and messy his closet was too. Of course, she wasn't going to go in there to clean it. In fact, Akane had stuck all of Ranma's dirty clothes under his bed. There was no way she was planning to touch them. Not in a million years!

Ranma pulled something out and stuck it in his pocket, probably money. Then he turned around to look at her. "I never told you to clean up, but there's nothing I can do about it now. It annoys me how you went around touching my stuff." He sighed before he gave her a cheeky smile. "Well, keep on cleaning then. I'm leaving."

"Hey, wait!" Akane called out to him which stopped him from opening the door. He looked at her with confusion. "Where are you going?"

"I don't know. I'm gonna walk around." He told her shrugging his shoulders. He seemed so carefree and relaxed all the time. She wished she could be like that. Then again, how could she when she was stuck in a school full of boys. No matter what the cause would be she would always have to keep her guard up so no one would discover her secret.

"I wanna come with you." Akane suddenly said, surprising herself a little. The only person she felt kind of safe around was Ranma. She didn't want to stay alone in her dorm all day. It would torment her to no end. "I don't want to spend my entire weekend stuck in here. It's already driving me insane."

"Do what you want, man. I don't really care." Ranma told her without a care in the world. Even so, he waited for her to put on her shoes. He stared at her as she tied her shoe laces. "Man, what's up with your feet? They're so small. You really are a freak."

"Oh, be quiet." She was a girl, so she was suppose to have smaller feet. Her feet weren't the only thing weird about her. Once she was finished putting on her shoes, Akane looked down at her clothing and couldn't help but feel sorry for herself. Since there were no classes on Saturday, she was forced to wear ordinary clothing. Her pants were kind of baggy and her shirt was kind of big on her. What choice did she have though? She had to wear big clothing to hide her breasts which were squished up like mad. It was painful to be like that everyday.

"Let's go." Ranma told her as he walked out. Akane followed him, but scolded at him when she saw that he didn't hold the door for her and let it slam her in the face. Akane growled as she opened the door herself. She had to get used to the fact that she was a guy to him.

Once they were far away from campus grounds, Akane walked next to Ranma as she looked around the shops. It was very lively and everyone around them looked pretty busy. They were all scurrying around, minding their own business. Akane looked around excitedly since she felt like she had just gained her freedom. After being stuck in the school, she was glad to finely change scenery.

"You look like a little boy dressed like that. It's embarrassing." Ranma told her as he placed his hands behind his head. "You're just weird in general. You do all these weird things. I just don't understand you."

"Oh, shut up. Like you're one to talk." Akane scolded at him angrily. Why did it seem like he always had something bad to say to her? Sure she didn't give him a good first impression, but he had no right to talk about her like that. It's not like she was some sort of freak. She was just dressed up as a guy attending an all guys school because of her dad's selfish reasons. "I'm not the one with the curse. Before you go on criticizing others, you should think about yourself!"

"Me? Criticizing you? You're the one that gets mad at everything! You wanna bite everyone's head off!" Ranma snapped at her, but calmed down when he realized that people were staring at him. He let out a loud huff before he placed his hands in his pockets. Akane bit her lip as she also placed her hands in her pockets. "You get on my nerves. You should have just stayed back at the dorm. I hate you sticking around me all the time."

Akane's eyes widen as she stopped walking. His words were harsh and to her disgrace, her heart wasn't taking them very well. She looked down at the ground, letting her bangs cover her face. She was a guy, so she had to take things like that the way a guy would. "Like I care what you think about me!" Akane told him in shaky voice. "If that's how you feel, I won't bother you anymore. I'm leaving! You're right! I shouldn't have come at all! I hate your guts!"

With that, Akane turned around and ran as fast as she could. She wasn't about to stick around him when he didn't want her around. She hated him. She hated being there. She wished she was home, relaxing and enjoying the company of her family. She wished she back in Furinkcan where she actually had friends that cared about her. She didn't know how longer she could take the whole situation. Being a guy was a lot harder than she ever imagined. She was always called tomboyish and people always criticized her for acting like a boy. Now, she was starting to realize that she had always had the heart of a girl.

Akane stopped running when she figured she was far away from Ranma. She panted, holding her hands on her knees. When she looked up, she was surprised to find herself in a street that she didn't recognize. Akane growled to herself as she pulled on her hair. That's what she got for letting her emotions get the best of her. She was lost and she had no idea how to get back to the school.

"Why does all this happen to me?!" Akane questioned herself as she looked around desperately. What was worse about the whole situation was that everything looked deserted. There was no sign of life anywhere and it seemed to her that she in some sort of alley. She wondered how in the world she had manged to get there. Then again, she was running without thinking properly, her blood boiling within her. "All well. I guess I'll just have to find my way out of here."

Without a second to spare, Akane started walking, but for some reason, she started getting a bit scared. Everything was so quiet. The only thing that was heard was the faraway sound of cars and the echoing of her footsteps. Akane gulped as she began to increase her pace. "I'm not scared." Akane told herself in nervously. "I'm not scared."

What type of martial artist would she be if she was scared? She had to stand up brave no matter what the situation was. Akane nodded to herself, but she kept looking around with suspicion. Something just didn't seem right. She had goosebumps all over her body and she couldn't make them go away. She felt like something was just gonna pop out and attack. Of course, she was right.

When she looked forward, she was surprised to see an ugly looking thug in front of her. He looked at her with an evil grin on his face while taking a step toward her. Akane looked at him with widen eyes as she suddenly started to feel fear within her. She tried to shake it off like she always did, but she couldn't. The guy had baggier pants than her and his left arm was covered in tattoos. He had piercings in his eyebrows and ears, his hair bleached with a dirty blond.

"What is a little boy like you doing in my turf? You have some nerve." He hissed at her, giving her a death glare. "What do you think we should do with him?"

"I don't know. It would have been better if it would have been a girl. Don't you think?" Akane twitched as she heard a voice coming from behind her as well. She turned around to see another ugly looking thug behind her. He looked similar to the other one, the only difference being that he had red hair. "Since you're here already," The red haired said, placing his hand in his pocket. Akane's eyes widen when she saw him pulling out a pocket knife. "Give us all your money and we'll let you go."

Akane started taking a few steps back since she felt herself being cornered. She suddenly stopped and decided to act like the Akane would back home. "Don't come any closer!" She warned them, but her voice sounded more scared than brave. "If you do, I swear I'll make you regret it!"

"Give us all your money before I start to lose my damn patience!" The red haired hollered at her, making Akane close her eyes.

"Like I'm going to listen to some punks like you! You must be crazy!" Akane, taking a risk, charged her fist toward the blond guy, but he easily dodged it. Before she could do something else, the blond guy punched her hard in the stomach. Then he punched her across the face before pushing her against a nearby wall. Her back took the damage as she fell to her knees on the ground. She had fought guys before and nothing like that had ever happened to her. What was wrong with her? Could it be she wasn't as tough as she thought?

"You piece of shit." The red haired guy told her as he placed his foot on top of her head, pushing her to the ground. "Did you actually think a scrawny little boy like you could beat us?"

She did. For a minute, she did think that she could beat them. Everything had changed ever since she had moved from school. She realized that she was really a girl. She no longer had the confidence she used to have and she doubted she could do anything at all. Instead of becoming stronger like her father had wanted her to, she was becoming weaker. Because of her stupid new school, she was starting to realize how much she wanted to return to her girl form. Akane could feel tears forming in her eyes. They weren't tears of sadness or fear; they were tears full of anger.

Before the guys could get any step closet to her, she screamed from the top of her lungs.

…

Ranma had anxiously followed Akane as soon as he had dashed off running. He had almost caught up to him, but lost him when he took his eyes off him for one second. He sighed to himself as he walked down the street where he figured Akane would be. He didn't understand what was up with that guy. Everything about him seemed strange and suspicions. He didn't know what to think about him anymore. If he would have known that Akane would have been so bothered by his words, he would have just kept his mouth shut.

There was no doubt that Akane annoyed him. He clung on to him like a small child and he hated that. Then, to make things much worse, he would catch himself staring at him noticing the smallest of things. He tried to stop himself from doing so, but lately he had been doing it more constantly. His face was just so perfect. It was so perfectly structured and his small figure was so unlike any other guy he had ever seen. His feet and hands were small and fragile. His eyes were big and kind of pretty.

Flying his hands to his hair, Ranma mentally slapped himself across the face. What the hell was he thinking? Was he actually checking out a guy that closely? Was he finally losing it? Ranma cursed himself slightly, stomping his foot in the ground. Why was he even looking for him anyways? He was a guy and he could probably take care of himself. Then again, why was he even thinking about him? Why didn't he just leave him and give him a taste of his own medicine? There were just so many questions and no answers. It was clearly driving him insane.

Ranma was about to turn around and leave when he suddenly heard a girl screaming loudly. His reflexes automatically acted on their own and he started running toward the scream. Someone was obviously in trouble and lucky for them that he was around to help them.

He heard the scream coming from an old looking alley full of clothesline from above. He went toward it to find two big looking guys bullying on someone on the ground. "Hey!" He hollered trying to get there attention as he went toward them. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

They turned to look at him, giving him a threatening look. Ranma looked down at the person that they picking on. Expecting to see a girl, Ranma was taken completely by surprise when he saw Akane laying there. His eyes widen as he saw blood around Akane's mouth, tears swelling up from his eyes.

Ranma turned to look at the guys who sticking out their pocket knife at him. Of course, Ranma wasn't paying attention to that. He was furious. Seeing Akane beat up like that infuriated him. He could feel his anger circulating throughout his body. His hands slowly curling into fists as he stared at them with a death glare. "Two against one? That's some real bull!" Ranma hollered at them. He a took a step toward, making them take a step back. He furrowed his eyebrows at them. In that moment, he felt invincible. "You're gonna regret doing that to Akane!"

…

"Do you think w-were scared of you!?" The blond one said, but Akane could tell he was shaking. The other stood behind him looking even more terrified. "Come at us when y-you're ready, pig-tailed boy! We aren't a-afraid of you!?"

Akane closed her eyes feeling pain throughout her body. She wanted to get up, but all her energy was gone. She felt so depressed knowing that she was being saved by Ranma. A part of her was grateful, but another part of her wished she could have defended herself. She didn't want to depend on him all time. She opened her eyes to the sound of Ranma's voice.

"Fine! You asked for it!" He exclaimed as he ran toward them. "You're gonna pay for hurting Akane!"

Observing carefully, Akane noticed Ranma didn't make the same mistake she did. He went straight toward them without fear. They were no match for him. He easily dodge all their attacks while he struck them from every angle. The fight didn't last long since the thugs practically ended up running for their lives. Ranma's expression was probably the thing that scared them the most. Akane continued to lay on the ground, not bothering to even stand up. She would never be able to take over the Tendo Dojo with her strength. She needed the strength of Ranma.

"Hey, Akane?" Ranma suddenly said, leaning down next to her. Akane was snapped from her thoughts as she looked up at him. Was he actually worried about her? "You okay?"

Akane, lying, nodded and tried to get her self to sit up. When she realized that she couldn't, Ranma ended up helping her, placing his hands on her shoulders to hold her up. Akane's heart skipped a beat. She looked up to find her face extremely close to Ranma's, only a couple of inches away. Akane felt her face blushing, but she didn't move. She looked at him, staring at his blue eyes. He stared back at her with a shocked face. Akane could feel her heart pounding loudly as she felt Ranma's hand suddenly gripping her shoulders a little tighter. What was this feeling that she was feeling? She had never felt it before.

They stayed still and continued in that position for a while until Akane suddenly felt cold water landing on top of her from above. She winced as she felt the cold water soak her body. She looked up to see where it had come from and was surprised to see some random old women holding a bucket from a window. She said sorry before going going back inside and closing the window.

When Akane turned back to look at Ranma, she was surprised to see a girl with red hair holding her shoulders. The girl looked surprised as she suddenly placed her hand over her chest. Akane looked at her closely, wondering where in the world she had come from. She desperately looked around trying to find Ranma when she accidentally came made eye contact with the girl that was in front of her. Her eyes were the same color as Ranma's. Akane, feeling her breath go out of control, looked at the girl's red hair. That's when she realized that it was in the similar style as Ranma's. Then she remember Ranma's curse.

"Oh my god." Akane said to herself, her eyes widening. "Is that you, Ranma?"

…


End file.
